After trading Chris Kreide this summer, Mika Zibanejad de New York Rangers’Longest-to-keep player. Zibanejad is going in his 10th season with the team, and his performance this season will determine the success of the Rangers. He arrived in New York as a young player who still tried to find his way in the competition and turned into the superstar that the team needed.
Trade with the senators of Ottawa
The Rangers achieved the Stanley Cup final in 2014 and game 7 of the Eastern Conference final in 2015. But in the summer of 2016 they came from a first round exit thanks to the Pittsburgh Penguins. It seemed that the team’s window to win was closing and changes had to be made. On July 18, 2016, the Rangers Derrick Brassard and a seventh round pick 2018 exchanged to the senators for Zibanejad and a second round of 2018.
At the time, Brassard came from a campaign of 27 goals, 58-point and was a real Playoff artist. The Sens wanted more experience in their setup, while the Rangers were looking for younger and shaking their core. So they exchanged the 28-year-old Brassard for the 23-year-old Zibanejad. While Brassard remained in Ottawa for only one and a half season, Zibanejad is still an important player for the Rangers.
Zibanejad became a star player
At the time of trade, Zibanejad came from the best season of his career, with 21 goals and 51 points in 81 games. His first season in New York was not his best, because he missed 26 games due to an injury and the season ended with 14 goals and 37 points in 56 games. The team also started a rebuilding in the middle of the 2017-18 season, so he didn’t have much talent to support him. He finally had his breakout season in 2018-19, with 30 goals and 74 points in 82 games.
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From that season he continued to grow his game and developed into a top NHL center. During the 2019-2020 season, He scored 41 goals and 75 points in 57 matches included the missed time due to an injury and the COVID-19 closure in March.
Zibanejad scored 20 or more goals in each of the last five seasons, including 39 goals and a career-high 91 points in 2022-23. He was also an important factor in the first play-off run of the Rangers who came out of their rebuilding in 2021-22 and scored 10 goals and 24 points in 20 play-off matches when the Rangers reached the final of the Eastern Conference against the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Zibanejad has to perform this season
The pressure is for Zibanejad to return to shape after two down seasons. After his 39 goal, 91-point campaign in 2022-23, he fell to 26 goals and 72 points in 81 games in 2023-24 and 20 goals and 62 points in 82 games last season. The Rangers were a disaster in 2024-25, partly because the top players of the team struggled throughout the season, especially Zibanejad.
The only positive thing is that his game dramatically improved after the rangers were traded for JT Miller. Zibanejad was moved to Miller’s right wing And played the last 32 games of the season on that line, scored 11 goals and 33 points in those games. He will again take the same position in 2025-26, and if he and Miller can continue to develop chemistry, this can be a big bounce-back campaign for Zibanejad and the Rangers.
After a few poor seasons, Zibanejad has to go back to his high level of playing because he is an important player for the Rangers, and they need him to be at his best if they want to go back to the Eastern Conference.
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